PLACEMENT SPECIALIST

Requisition No: 846241

Agency: Children and Families

Working Title: PLACEMENT SPECIALIST - 60071602

Pay Plan: Career Service

Position Number: 60071602

Salary: $65,000 - $80,000

Posting Closing Date: 02/20/2025

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Family First Prevention Services Act Specialist

Department of Children and Families

HEADQUATERS

Open Competitive

Current employees will be compensated in accordance with the DCF salary policy.

What you will do:

This is a highly professional position that requires strong problem-solving and critical thinking abilities, leadership skills and ability to travel throughout Florida as needed. The position will serve a critical statewide role that will focus on identifying gaps in the placement array for children in out of home care and strategies to successfully close the identified gap(s).

The successful candidate will have a strong understanding of Florida’s Child Welfare System and the implications of FFPSA on the changing placement array across the state as well as an understanding of the licensing process for Foster Homes (all levels), At-Risk Homes, Safe Homes, QRTP and BQRTP facilities.

This position will be responsible for ongoing communication and training of internal and external staff on all aspects of FFPSA.

How you will make an impact:

Provides leadership and guidance for all placement related/coordinated work with Community Based Care (CBC) Lead Agencies, Managing Entities (MEs) as the statewide Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Develops and maintains capacity building plans that are specific to individual community needs, in partnership with executive leaders across the system of care both internally and externally.

Analyzes out of home care data to determine capacity gaps in each placement setting and proposes recommendations for placement array/continuum of care enhancements statewide.

Monitors out of home placement costs and needs with each CBC Lead Agency

Actively participate in policy interpretation and procedure development related to all types of out of home placements.

Coordinates with data team to develop viable tracking mechanism and placement capacity and need dashboards.

Presents recommendations to leadership for best practices integration into policy and procedure, contract language requirements, training updates, as needed.

Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in social work or related field.
• Active Child Welfare Certification through the Florida Certification Board.
• 5 Years of Experience.
• Valid Driver License

Preferred qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in social work or related field.
• Experience in the principals and strategies of Prevention Services in the Child Welfare System

• Certified as a Child Welfare Professional.
• 5 Years of Experience providing or implementing prevention services in the child welfare system

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Judgment and Decision Making: Weighing the relative costs and benefits of a potential action.
• Critical Thinking: Using logic and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches.
• Speaking: Talking to others to effectively convey information.
• Writing: Communicating effectively with others in writing as indicated by the needs of the audience.
• Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Active Listening: Listening to what other people are saying and asking questions as appropriate.
• Information Gathering: Knowing how to find information and identifying essential information.
• Problem Identification: Identifying the nature of problems.
• Systems Evaluation: Looking at many indicators of system performance, taking into account their accuracy.
• Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Idea Evaluation: Evaluating the likely success of an idea in relation to the demands of the situation.
• Administration and Management: Knowledge of principles and processes involved in business and organizational planning, coordination, and execution. This may include strategic planning, resource allocation, manpower modeling, leadership techniques, and production methods.
• Law, Government and Jurisprudence: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Personnel and Human Resources: Knowledge of policies and practices involved in personnel/human resource functions.
• Communications and Media: Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods including alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Psychology: Knowledge of human behavior and performance, mental processes, psychological research methods, and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Candidate Profile (application) must be completed in its entirety.

• Include supervisor names and phone numbers for all periods of employment.
• Account for and explain any gaps in employment so that the hiring process is not delayed.
• Experience, education, training, knowledge, skills and/or abilities as well as responses to pre-qualifying questions must be verifiable to meet the minimum qualifications.
• It is unacceptable to use the statement “See Resume” in place of entering work history.
• If you experience problems applying online, please call the People First Service Center at (877) 562-7287.

Benefits of Working for the State of Florida:

Working for the State of Florida is more than a paycheck. The State’s total compensation package for employees features a highly competitive set of employee benefits including:

• No state income tax for residents of Florida;
• Annual and Sick Leave benefits;
• Nine paid holidays and one Personal Holiday each year;
• State Group Insurance coverage options, including health, life, dental, vision, and other supplemental insurance options;
• Retirement plan options, including employer contributions

(For more information, please click www.myfrs.com);

• Flexible Spending Accounts;
• Tuition waivers;
• And more!

For a more complete list of benefits, visit www.mybenefits.myflorida.com.

Growth Opportunities:

With 12,000 employees across the state DCF promotes opportunities and training for all. Our jobs are among the most challenging, complex, and difficult in State government. They are also among the most rewarding. All employees are encouraged to take advantage of available Department opportunities for advancement and professional development.

Where you will work:

Florida is the only state that borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. In other words, no matter where you land in Florida, you’re never more than 60 miles from a body of saltwater. And if the beach isn’t your scene, there are 175 state parks to explore! Meanwhile, Floridians hail from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, and walks of life, making it an incredibly diverse melting pot that many residents and visitors to Florida love. The Sunshine State is a great place to live and work – Come join our team!

About Department of Children and Families:

Mission: The mission of the Department of Children and Families is to work in partnership with local communities to protect the vulnerable, promote strong and economically self-sufficient families, and advance personal and family recovery and resiliency.

Vision: We are a highly skilled workforce committed to empowering people with complex and varied needs to achieve the best outcomes for themselves and their families. In collaboration with community stakeholders, we will deliver world class and continuously improving service focused on providing the people we serve with the level and quality that we would demand and expect for our own families.

Values: A workforce that operates with integrity maintains loyalty to a code of ethics that requires the courage to take responsibility for providing the highest quality of service to the vulnerable. We are a solutions-focused learning organization built on a foundation of transparency in action and accountability of results. Both within the organization and among our stakeholders, we thrive in a culture of respect for diversity of opinion that is nurtured through open communication. High performing and committed, we are unified in our goal of excellence in achieving quality outcomes for those we serve.

To learn more please visit https://www.myflfamilies.com/.

• If you are a retiree of the Florida Retirement System (FRS), please check with the FRS on how your current benefits will be affected if you are re-employed with the State of Florida. Your current retirement benefits may be suspended or voided, and you will be required to repay all benefits received depending upon the date of your retirement.
• The position will perform all job tasks in accordance with laws, rules, regulations, policies, and requirements applicable to state and federal laws or procedures.

We hire only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized alien workers.

Participation in the State of Florida Direct Deposit Program is required as a condition of employment per F.S. 110.113, and enrollment must be completed within the first 30 calendar days of your appointment.

SELECTIVE SERVICE: Male candidates born on or after October 1, 1962, will not be eligible for hire or promotion into an authorized position unless they are registered with the Selective Service System (SSS) before their 26th birthday or have a Letter of Registration Exemption from the SSS. Verification of Selective Service registration will be conducted prior to hire. For more information, please visit the SSS website: http://www.sss.gov.

BACKGROUND SCREENING REQUIREMENT: It is the policy of the Florida Department of Children and Families that any applicant being considered for employment must successfully complete a State and National criminal history check as a condition of employment before beginning employment, and also be screened in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 435, F.S., and, if applicable, Chapter 408, F.S. No applicant may begin employment until the background screening results are received, reviewed for any disqualifying offenses, and approved by the Agency. Background screening shall include, but not be limited to, fingerprinting for State and Federal criminal records checks through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and may include local criminal history checks through local law enforcement agencies.

The State of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action Employer, and does not tolerate discrimination or violence in the workplace.

Candidates requiring a reasonable accommodation, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, must notify the agency hiring authority and/or People First Service Center (1-866-663-4735). Notification to the hiring authority must be made in advance to allow sufficient time to provide the accommodation.

The State of Florida supports a Drug-Free workplace. All employees are subject to reasonable suspicion drug testing in accordance with Section 112.0455, F.S., Drug-Free Workplace Act.

VETERANS’ PREFERENCE. Pursuant to Chapter 295, Florida Statutes, candidates eligible for Veterans’ Preference will receive preference in employment for Career Service vacancies and are encouraged to apply. Certain service members may be eligible to receive waivers for postsecondary educational requirements. Candidates claiming Veterans’ Preference must attach supporting documentation with each submission that includes character of service (for example, DD Form 214 Member Copy #4) along with any other documentation as required by Rule 55A-7, Florida Administrative Code. Veterans’ Preference documentation requirements are available by clicking here. All documentation is due by the close of the vacancy announcement.